Longevity in Human Evolution

Diamond proposes that one evolutionary advantage that we have is longevity. Discuss the implications of this advantage in evolutionary terms.

Diamond suggests one advantage that progressed through the evolutionary tree, is longevity. We will discuss the reasons for longevity in the evolvement of the human species. Diamond addresses through chapter seven, how aging and menopause are strongly connected to longevity. Men and women have been tested in various different ways to solve the mystery behind the theory that reproduction is the cause of post-generative longevity. Another benefit Diamond writes about is how technology is a big step toward progressing how lives much further then it was one hundred thousand years ago. The one theory written progressively is one of Charles Darwin’s ‘Theory of Natural Selection’ which is one of the theories much argued about today. These topics, as well as being spoken about in Diamond’s book, are heavily argued about whether the theories are believable to endure human longevity to an increased size.

In menopause, there are two different hypotheses to state post generative longevity; these are the ‘Stopping-Early Hypothesis’ and ‘The Grandmother Hypothesis’. The ‘Stopping-Early Hypothesis’ states, since human infants are too young to live without protection or motherly aspects,’…it is beneficial for women to cease reproduction at the age at which the risk of maternal death reaches a certain threshold. In contrast, ‘The Grandmother Hypothesis’ states that survival long past the age of menopause have been selected for because grandmothers significantly improve grand offspring survival probabilities.’ (J. Beise) These two hypotheses have biological origins but have social implications; they are both tested for evolution of menopause and the evolution of post-generative longevity. Menopause and post-generative longevity are artefacts of modern life that were not present for most human evolutionary history, and are in accordance with the lack of evidence from the fossil record of human ancestors surviving to late ages. Some have argued that because modern hunter-gatherer societies have life-expectancies well beyond the mean age at menopause means that the same was probably true for historical populations with similar lifestyles. While this argument is valid, the fact remains that the ‘modern-artefact’ hypothesis can not be ruled out. Having an extended lifespan was selected for early in human evolutionary history but the primary selection was the improved status and mating opportunities that age meets the expense of men. Men achieve status with age, and reproductive opportunities. According to this hypothesis, female longevity is a by-product of selection for longevity in males but there has never been sufficient selective pressure on females to alter their reproductive lifespan.

In chapter seven, Diamond articulates that aging and menopause are crucial to today’s’ human existence as evolution is involved. Aging and menopause gives Homo Sapien Sapiens a higher advantage in the evolutionary tree when it comes to longevity. Diamond suggests that modern humans have a longer lifespan than apes because modern humans age more slowly. ‘The longer lifespan of modern humans than of apes rests not only on cultural adaptations; such as tools to acquire food and deter predators. It also rests on biological adaptations of menopause…’ (Diamond pg 117) Human female fertility rises gradually with age, peaks in the late twenties, and then begins to decrease until menopause occurs during the late forties or early fifties. At this point it is not possible for women to reproduce anymore, yet women can expect to live between another 19-22 years even in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies without modern medicine. Evidence regarding the termination of reproduction prior to death amongst primates kept in captivity, well fed and free from predation, is very mixed. Where an animal dies having not...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...We are apes
HumanEvolution I
What makes us different?
1. we started walking on two feet
2. our brains got bigger
3. we started using tools
4. we lost our hair
Who is our closest living relative? Look at genetic distances between humans, chimpanzees and gorillas!
What is the evidence that humans evolved?
* H. erectusis in Europe ca. 1.8million years ago
* H. neanderthalensisis in Europe ca. 400,000 years ago
1) The earliest H.sapiens fossils (195,000 years ago) are from Ethiopia (H.sapiens fossils don’t turn up outside of Africa until 50,000‐60,000 years ago)
2) Phylogenetic analyses show that the common ancestor to all non‐African modern humans are African modern humans
3)Genetic diversity in Non‐Africans represents a narrow subset of the genetic diversity found in Africa
How and where humans originated?
So far, the data supports Hypothesis 2 BUT! "A new view of the birth of Homo Sapiens" by Svante Paabo and colleagues showed that
* Siberian ancient humans were genetically distinct from European Neandretal (calledDenisovans), but perhaps their sister population
* Sequenced Denisovan genome and compared with humans around the world.
* Modern Melanesians(e.g. PapuaNew Guinea) derive asmuch as 7.4% oftheirDNA from Denisovans. European, Middle‐eastern and Asia shared very little and...

...2014
HumanEvolution
The Evolutionary History of Life on earth traces the process by which living and fossil organisms have evolved since life on the planet first originated until the present day. According to research earth formed about 4.5 Ga (billion years) ago and life appeared on its surface within 1 billion years. The similarities between all present day organizes indicate the presence of a common ancestor from which all known species have diverged through the process of evolution.
Every organism has an evolved life history pattern. A life history pattern in which the way time and energy are allocated between growth, maintenance and reproduction. The Evolution of Human Behavior promotes there have been three major life history transactions toward later sexual maturation and longer lifespan. Such as; Prosimians to Monkeys, Monkeys to Apes and Apes to Humans, these patterns of life history characteristics resulting in parental care over long developing periods of human life’s expendency.
In my opinion, in order for one must first find out what their genes have been up to in their past history and what they want in their present type of environment plays a big part as to where their future lifespan reaches. We have to consider both the successes and problems causing failures of attempts to use natural instincts to understand fully human behavior and...

...The story of
HumanEvolution
“A Brief Overview”
By
Swati yadav
The Argument in Syllogisms
Western Religion
Premise 1 - God created
humanity.
Premise 2 - Humanity did
not evolve.
Conclusion 3 - Therefore,
there will be no
evidence of humanevolution.
OneWorldInsight.com
Science
Premise 1 - All life forms
on earth go through the
process of evolution.
Premise 2 - Humanity is a
life form on earth.
Conclusion 3 - Therefore,
there will be evidence
of humanevolution.
Age of the Earth – 5 billion
OneWorldInsight.com
OneWorldInsight.com

Material found
deepest is oldest

Material found is
same age as other
material in same
layer
Scientific Dating of
Fossils
 Carbon
dating is proven
accurate back to 50,000 years
 Uranium
isotope dating is
proven accurate back to
500,000 years
 Potassium
to argon dating is
proven accurate back to 5
billion years
OneWorldInsight.com
OneWorldInsight.com
Do the same laws of evolution
apply to human beings?
OneWorldInsight.com
In a new book, documentary, and promotional Web site, paleontologist Jorn Hurum, who led the
team that analyzed the 47-million-year-old fossil seen above, suggests Ida is a critical missinglink species in primate evolution. The fossil, he says, bridges the evolutionary split between
higher primates such as monkeys, apes, and humans and their more...

...The Future of HumanEvolution
Alexander R.
Prof. Kohn
Darwinism and Evolution
12-6-96
Evolution, the science of how populations of living organisms change over
time in response to their environment, is the central unifying theme in biology
today. Evolution was first explored in its semi-modern form in Charles Darwin 's
1859 book, Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection. In this book, Darwin
laid out a strong argument for evolution. He postulated that all species have a
common ancestor from which they are descended. As populations of species moved
into new habitats and new parts of the world, they faced different environmental
conditions. Over time, these populations accumulated modifications, or
adaptations, that allowed them and their offspring to survive better in their
new environments. These modifications were the key to the evolution of new
species, and Darwin proposed natural selection or "survival of the fittest" as
the vehicle by which that change occurs. Under Natural Selection, some
individuals in a population have adaptations that allow them to survive and
reproduce
more than other individuals. These adaptations become more common in the
population because of this higher reproductive success. Over time, the
characteristics of the population as a whole can change, sometimes even
resulting in the formation of a new species. Humans have...

...﻿Evolution: Why Humans Are The Way They Are
When the word evolution comes to mind there are a few things that are automatically associated with the term. A few of them being: Charles Darwin, biology, and controversy. Evolution is a very broad topic that concerns every living thing on the earth. It is responsible for bringing species into the form that they are today, and the form that species will be in the future. Without evolution the world would be a very different place today. The human species is the first species to be able to recognize evolution as the process of development for all of biology. It is very clear that humans are very different from every other living thing. From our way of life, our ability to remember things from the past, and to be able to plan for the future. The many aspects of evolution have been studied thoroughly, yet there is still more to discover.
The theory of evolution was developed by the english naturalist, Charles Darwin. He originally went to school to be a medical doctor, and half-way through switching to religious studies. His main interests landed in the field of biology and geology. In 1831, after he had completed school, he landed a spot on the HMS Beagle as an unpaid naturalist. The voyage would last for 5 years, and it was on that voyage that Darwin would become fascinated with biology...

...Phylogenetic Trees ￼
Each phylogenetic tree represents a different interpretation of humanevolution. Firstly in the actual structure of these two phylogenetic trees, it can be seen that figure one provides a very linear progression of humanevolution in steady, constant phases of evolution and extinction. The second chart however presents a more complex inerpretation and arrangement of its data, with not only more species but far greater periods of temporal overlap. The second figure gives a larger span of time for humanevolution by beginning at the 6 million mark, figure 1 however starts at the 5 million mark and therefore reveals a less effective tree of humanevolution. Chart 2 provides three possible direct ancestors to Homo Ergaster, these being Homo Rudolfensis, Homo Habilis as well as one unknown or missing link.
In regards to unknowns, tree one prefers to provide few missing links by only providing two, one of which is not directly related and therefore is not of great importance to modern humans. Figure 1 prefers instead to use physical evidence of evolution, such as fossils as opposed to hypothezing or predicting the incidence of unknown entities. This could reflect upon the importance placed on physical evidence as opposed to inferring at the time. Tree two on the other hand provides a total of five...

...There is a theory that humans descended from an earlier, lower form of life. There is an assortment of evidence that shows that all living creatures on Earth descended from a common ancestry. Evolution doesnt discriminate against humans. It is believed that we too are a product of an earlier predecessor. The similarities in all life are evident if you consider that every form of life builds from the same building blocks--20 essential amino acids, four nitrogen bases, and simple sugars. Each of Earths past and present forms of life are, or were composed of a combination of those building blocks called RNA or DNA. In the very beginning of life on Earth, the genetic structure was very simple, but as time has gone by, the best combinations in the genetic sequence were individuals that reproduced. Over the approximated 3.5 billion years that life has been in existence on Earth, there have been many mutations in the genetic codes of different forms of life. Only very few of the genetic mutations are indeed beneficial to the function of the species. Negative mutations give the life form a disadvantage for survival, thus reducing its chances for reproduction, but a positive mutation gives the species an advantage to survive and produce offspring. The offspring have a copy of the positive mutation now in their genetics to eventually pass down to their young and so on. Now you can see how the positive mutations have a way of piling up into...

...This article is about the divergence of Homo sapiens from other species. For a complete timeline of humanevolution, see Timeline of humanevolution. For other uses, see Humanevolution (disambiguation).
"Evolution of Man" redirects here. For the album by Example, see The Evolution of Man.
Part of a series on
Evolutionary biology
Diagrammatic representation of the
divergence of modern taxonomic
groups from their common ancestor.
Key topics[show]
Processes and outcomes[show]
Natural history[show]
History of evolutionary theory[show]
Fields and applications[show]
Social implications[show]
Portal icon Evolutionary biology portal
Category Category
Book icon Book
Related topics
v
t
e
Humanevolution refers to the evolutionary process leading up to the appearance of modern humans. While it began with the last common ancestor of all life, the topic usually covers only the evolutionary history of primates, in particular the genus Homo, and the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of hominids (or "great apes"). The study of humanevolution involves many scientific disciplines, including physical anthropology, primatology, archaeology, linguistics, evolutionary psychology, embryology and genetics.[1]
According to genetic studies,...